Through Bloody Tears
by Countergod
Summary: Sometimes in life, you realize the things you took for granted and the people you loved are gone. You cry, and your tears turn to blood, but nothing can change it. How you face the change will affect the rest of your life. Second story of the SOTS arc.
1. Part 1 Prologue: Fire and sass

Rain feel in sheets down from the darkened sky. The cloud cover did not let the light of a single star or the large bright moon that orbited the planet far above through its merciless darkness. The only light provided by the heavens above were the intermittent flickering of lightning that spread its painfully bright fingers of pure light across the black sky.

Below in the city of Galbadia, almost nothing moved, and anything that did was getting soaked to the core. However, one brave soul risked the freezing cold rain for some reason or another, ducking from tree to tree to try to keep her water proof out of the water. Finally, she ducked under the massive towering city gates outside the presidential palace. It was here, five years ago, that Squall Leonhart had fought the Sorceress Edea. It was here that Seifer Almasy had been defeated, and here that the first step in an epic story was taken.

The lone young woman stepped under the gate and slipped off her cloak, flinging it around in the air to spray off the excess water, revealing a great crown of carefully braided coppery hair. _Great, even my water proof cloak is getting soaked in this damn rainfall. _She sighed and flipped the cloak back over her body and pulled up the hood again, ready to step out. She never did. "Halt!" a voice commanded from behind her.

Slowly the woman turned and faced the voice, finding 4 Galbadian soldiers and one officer standing there, weapons drawn. Footsteps behind her alerted her to the arrival of two more soldiers behind her. A cold, cruel smile formed on her lips as a whisper of movement under her cloak hid her movements. One gunshot later, the officer was falling back, a bullet hole in his head, and a smoking gun in her hand. The body hit the concrete floor and everything seemed to stop. All sound, all attention was directed on the now lifeless body of the now dead officer. Even the rain, which had been beating down mercilessly, stopped its downpour and settled. Finally the attention of the six soldiers ripped off their fallen leader and refocused on the woman.

One against six weren't bad odds at all to her; after all, she had been up against more at earlier times. Blood from her own skin and that of fallen team members speckled her hip-hugging jeans and white tank top as two gleaming silver swords blocking her way back into the city and four or so blocking her way out. The concrete seemed to push up against her knee-length black boots, making her feet ache even more than the rest of her body if it was possible. Her hands trembled as they clutched the twin pistols at her side, her knuckles white, heart pounding in her head. Strangely however, her face was as calm as the surface of a still pond, waving strands of dark auburn flowing down her shoulders and onto the ebon' cloak that rested on her back.

"Elizabeth Andros... drop your weapons!" a voice grunted, the voice shaking. She just passively raised her eyebrows and they became visible from beneath her dark sunglasses. "Drop your weapons, now!" he emphasized, and she heard the soft scrapping of swords being drawn, the metal against metal like her echoing death toll.

The SeeD had preformed her assignment successfully, and now the only thing between her and the Jeep that awaited to take her home to Balamb Garden were these half dozen or so nameless men wanting to avenge their fallen Corporal, who's life she had just stolen with an accurately-placed bullet. One of them was crying softly, and she knew that one to be the Corporal's son. Pity ALMOST twined within her, but changed its mind after what he did next.

The young soldier did not wait for the order to attack, and he rushed forward with a yell and his sword high, anger in his eyes. Elizabeth ducked out of the way of the sword and the rest of the Galbadians followed in his wake, charging the young woman and forming an angry circle around her. Grabbing the hem of her cloak, she threw it up in front of her before they had the chance to stab her while ducking down at the same time. Looking up, she saw several swords pierce it in midair. Liz rolled out of the circle of enemies and the cloak ripped off of her back. They looked at it dumbly as she appeared behind some of them, waving friendly.

Throwing the cloak aside, they charged her again and she set to work. Roundhouse-kicking one of their swords, it flew out of a surprised fist and landed gracefully in hers. She dodged and parried attacks, lunging and stabbing one soldier after the other with the sword and eventually drawing a pistol out of its holster and aiding herself with her deadly accuracy. In a moment or two, she had six bleeding Galbadians at her feet that were no longer a threat.

Looking over them with a smirk, she holstered her pistol and shouldered the crimson-soaked sword, turning her back on them and heading to where she had parked the Jeep almost two hours ago at the beginning of her mission. One of the Galbadians groaned in pain and sat up slowly, reaching for his sword and looking at her back as she walked away. Liz rolled her eyes as she heard him sitting up and her fingers moved to pull her own pistol, lifting it over her shoulder and glancing behind her to shoot him again. He fell back once more, his cry echoing into the large arch and taunting her ears. Tossing the sword to the ground with a loud clang, Elizabeth Andros exited Galbadia City, leaving nearly two dozen soldiers dead at her hands and feeling pretty damn good about it.


	2. Chapter 1

Elizabeth Andros stood on the sidewalk leading to the gates of Balamb Garden. She stared up at the monolithic building, smiling thinly. Garden had changed its appearance some since the renovations which had been completed two years ago. The bulge just a bit to the left, from her perspective, of the gate was the newly expanded infirmary. Off to her right, the Training Center, nearly double its old size, sprawled out, its support struts underneath holding its burden easily. Even if the portion of the Training Center under the struts, which was outdoors and open to the air, had a full on collision like during the Garden Battle nearly five years ago, it would stay firmly attached and undamaged. The Armor plates had shock absorbers and collapsible room to absorb millions of pounds of force on each section.

Liz took a deep breath then strolled up the stairs. She had arrived in Balamb about three hours ago, but she had not reported back to Garden immediately. Instead, she had gone to a local bar and had a few drinks. Memories of the most recent mission, still fresh in her mind, bubbled up over sips of whiskey. She had given a silent toast to her partner, who was quite dead, courtesy of the Galbadian pig that had run his oversized sword straight through her body and down nearly two feet of his sword.

Liz had seen enough death in her life to be numbed to seeing most ways of dying, but this still left a bitter taste in her mouth. If she had forgone the mission, Jasmine might still be alive. But she had her job to do and so did Jasmine. _And she gave her life for it._

What was the worst thing though, was that she could ht bring Jasmine home to be buried among friends. With all of Galbadian City on alert, carrying the brunette's body would have been tantamount to suicide. Thus all she had to show for her sacrifice was the encrypted data card. She hoped whatever was on this card was worth her friends life.

She marched into Garden purposefully, not giving the SeeD behind the security gate a second glance as she walked through the unlocked turnstile. She had only looked at him long enough for the camera behind him to run a facial match to her. She moved quickly, her hip hugging jeans swaying gently, assuming an aura of confidence and attractiveness which she little wanted at the moment. However, appearances were everything. She would not let anybody see that she had anything inside her besides a confident smirk.

She walked to the elevators and pressed the call button. As she waited, a presence made itself known to her. Looking at the profile of the shadow which cast itself on one of the elevator doors she knew it could only be one person. "Come to welcome me home?"

Irvine grinned and took off his cowboy hat, bowing to her in a dramatic and utterly romantic pose. It also was very stupid in her opinion. Yes many women would be swayed by the gesture; she was one who would rather shove the cowboy into the water which ringed the elevators. "As always, Miss Andros. Good mission I assume?"

Elizabeth finally turned around to Irvine and glanced at him with narrowed eyes. Irvine set his hat back on his head and flashed a million Gil smile at her. She only rolled her eyes. "I suppose so." The elevator dinged and one of the left most of three doors opened to accept its passengers. Liz and Irvine both marched in. Liz took station with her back to the far wall from the glass door as it slid closed again. Irvine pressed the large race track shaped button on the top of the panel labeled 'Command Deck' and turned to her. "I ran into a bit of opposition but…" she brushed her fingers over her pistol and smirked a bit wider. "It was nothing I could not handle."

Irvine leaned against the elevator door as it started its ascent up to the top of Garden. "Ya have the disk?"

Liz's smirk stayed just the same, yet had somehow morphed to be a touch more seductive. She traced her left hand up to the strap of her tank top, and slowly brushed her fingers down her chest until it got to the edge of her rather low cut shirt. Slipping her fingers into her valley, she slowly grasped the small data card and withdrew it. She knew Irvine's eyes were fixed on her chest, glancing over her pale skin. He was the worst kind of typical male, the one who undressed a woman's body in his own mind while she was staring right at him. She knew Irvine was enjoying her more than a little flirtatious moves and inwardly rolled her eyes. _Males…_

He grinned and plucked it out of her small hand, brushing his thumb over it. "Where is Wright?"

The mention of Liz's deceased partner made her smirk slowly fade from her lips. She brushed a strand of her coppery red hair behind her ear before she crossed her arms over her lithe and well figured chest, blocking his eyes from looking at it further. She did not have the most filled chest area that a woman could have, but her entire body was well proportioned and definitely was extremely good looking, or so she had been told by many men. Most had winded up in a small puddle of their own blood when they tried to touch her skin within five seconds of saying that.

Irvine's eyes met hers and she glanced away, shying away from eye contact, as normal. "I see" was all he said before the elevator came to a halt and dinged. Its glass doors opened and the pair walked out. Irvine nodded to Xu, who quickly pressed a button. "Squall, Andros is back."

Without even waiting for an invitation, Liz pushed open the door labeled 'Captain Leonhart' and marched in, her hips swinging just to distract Irvine a bit. She knew that Squall would not be at all phased by it, if he even noticed. Considering Rinoa Leonhart was sitting on his desk with her right leg crossed over her left, and her right ankle brushing against his hand, she doubted it.

However, it was a little amusing to see man and wife jump at being caught in a private moment. She inwardly smirked. Like hell would she ever get trapped in something as antiquated and absurd as marriage. Rinoa quietly stood up and kissed Squall's cheek before whispering something in his ear. With that she quietly – and much less attractively – made her exit from the office, leaving the three SeeDs alone.

Liz's eyes darted back and forth between Squall and Irvine for a moment. Squall made an effort to look like he was being interrupted from working not fraternizing with his wife in his office, but neither of the two other SeeDs would have been fooled for an instant. "Welcome back, Miss Andros. Mission successful?"

Irvine walked over and rested the data card on Squall's desk. Squall picked it up for a moment and looked at it before handing it back to Irvine. "Take it for decoding immediately."

Irvine nodded and walked out of the office leaving Liz alone with the Captain. Squall had received a promotion after the command staff for the newly rebuilt Trabia Garden had been selected. There was absolutely no opposition from either Garden to Squall assuming military command of both Gardens. Cid had extended his powers and become Headmaster of both Gardens as well, being the final word for any administrative and teaching details which might arise.

Squall glanced at his computer terminal for a moment, obviously refreshing his mind with the details of the mission he had assigned her. "All went smoothly?"

Liz nodded, "Yes sir, very smoothly."

"Where is Jasmine Wright?"

The question had caught Liz off guard, but she quickly recovered. "She… did not make it, Sir."

Squall regarded her carefully for a moment. "Your partner is dead, and all went smoothly?"

Liz swallowed for a moment. Maybe she should have thought for a moment before answering, but she was stuck now. "I got the data; I got it back to Garden. Mission accomplished, Sir." Her voice had become softer, more of a hiss, and definitely more dangerous.

Squall nodded. "I want a full report on what happened, by 5 PM tomorrow. You look tired. Go get some rest." Liz knew Squall was being easy on her, giving her more than thirty hours to write her report. However she could still hear the commanding tone in his voice. _Get some rest. Right. How do I do that with Jasmine's gurgling death scream penetrating my ears? _"Yes, sir."

Liz spun and stared to walk out of his office but Squall's voice stopped her. "Andros."

She slowly spun around and glanced at the Captain. "Sir?"

Squall sat back and looked at her for a moment. "Trabia Garden has a need for a gun specialist. This would be both a combat assignment and a teaching assignment. Irvine said that you're the most qualified gun specialist currently in Balamb Garden. Besides him of course."

Liz regarded the captain. "Sir, I do not wish to teach."

Squall nodded. "Its only two classes, as Irvine currently teaches in Garden. Besides those, you would have no other responsibilities. You would still maintain your full mission status."

The red haired woman's eyes shifted around the Commander's… _The CAPTAIN'S… _office uncomfortably. Squall sensed her uneasiness. "Think about it, and talk with Kinneas if you need to. You are under no obligation to take the job."

She nodded her head. "Thank you for the offer, sir. I will most definitely think about it."

Squall nodded. "Thank you. Dismissed."

Elizabeth spun again and walked out of the office and back to the elevators. She WAS tired, and she longed just to collapse on her own bed, though she doubted sleep would come easily. Her mind buzzed with Squall's words. She could be a gun specialist, not only that but that rank would entail an offer's commission. She felt flattered that Irvine had recommended her for the assignment.

Her ride down the elevator shaft and her walk through garden was highly uneventful, partly thanks to her distracted state. Her mind was a buzz about the opportunities which this offered assignment would provide. _Opportunities paid in the blood of my friends. _This thought unsettled her. Jasmine's body was probably not even cold yet, and in the hands of some Galbadian probably performing a dissection on her corpse - and Hyne knew what other violations of her friend's body - and her she was thinking about a promotion!

She sighed and swiped her key into her room door and walked in, closing it and leaving her in the privacy of her small single. She stepped a mere two steps in and opened her closet door. It banged against her main door and she looked at her own face in the mirror mounted on the inner side of the closet door. She did look like a tired wreck, that was for sure. She sighed and traced her fingers along her body to her waist, slowly gathering the bottom of her tank top into her hands.

A knock on the door interrupted her and she sighed, stopping the motion and resetting what little of her shirt she had disturbed. She did not even bother closing her closet door, instead just opening her main door a crack to see who was there. She was not expecting anybody, but somehow, seeing the cowboy did not surprise her. "May I help you, Irvine?"

Irvine smiled at her. "You mean, 'may I help you, _COMMANDER', _doncha?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Irvine had taken his new job as military commander of Balamb Garden to his head like helium inflating a balloon. Then again, he knew she had a 'problem' (more like a dislike) of authority, and continually rubbed it in to his fellow gunman.

Despite the roll of her eyes, Liz but could not help a small smile as she stepped back. Irvine helped himself in and shut the door, leaning against it. Liz stepped back to her small closet, letting its door block her from his view as she started rummaging around inside it. "No actually, I don't."

She could almost see Irvine's smile growing into a grin. "Well, what are you planning on doing right now? You look like you could use some company."

Liz's smile grew a bit but she continued rummaging in her closet. She wasn't looking for anything in particular; she was just doing it to have an excuse to have the door between them. "I had no particular plans. Did you have something in mind?"

Liz knew exactly what he was going to say before he said it, and mouthed the words along with him. It was the same every time. "I was thinking of going horseback riding…"

She shut the closet door and leaned her left shoulder against it. She was waiting for him to say that. Instead of going through the whole ritual, she just traced her fingers along her chest again with a smirk that screamed sexiness and replied. "I'd prefer it if we could just save a horse. I like riding cowboys better."

Irvine grinned sensing exactly what she was thinking. Ten seconds later, his jacket and cowboy hat was strewn across her floor and her back was against the closet door. Irvine was planting kisses all over her neck and quickly pulled her tank top off her body, tossing it aside. His fingers caressed over her bra for a few moments before that disappeared too.

Elizabeth's eyes rolled shut as her head tilted back, exposing her neck to Irvine and her mouth opened in a soft gasping smile. She felt his hands ranging all over the pale skin of her lithe body, and she gave a soft giggle as what remained of her clothes disappeared from her body. Liz could feel the heat in her body rising in anticipation of what was to come, and her hands blindly sought out his shirt, swiftly and deftly unbuttoning it before shoving the cowboy on his back onto her bed. With one last quick struggle, his pants were off and she was straddling his waist.

Liz gasped with pleasure and her eyes rolled shut as her hips started rising and lowering and her mind finally started to unwind. Her muscles did too, feeling the cowboy's hands caress her skin, untangling her muscle knots inch by square inch as her mind clouded over with pleasure. Slowly but surely, her mind unclouded from her mission, Jasmine's death, and the promotion she was offered. Now she could finally relax.

And Elizabeth moaned with pleasure.


	3. Chapter 2

Elizabeth was lying on her left side, facing the wall. Her left arm was tucked under her head, with the edge of the pillow sandwiched between both. Her blanket was haphazardly strewn over her naked body, giving her a modicum of decency, which was of questionable worth considering what she had been doing for the last unknown number of minutes.

Liz would not call herself promiscuous, she most certainly would not get into bed with anybody, but she was twenty three now, a free woman. Hell, she was a SeeD before Squall even had his stint which made him the Commander then Captain of the Gardens. She was never going to marry; she felt that any marriage partner she had would be endangered by her job, and she thought that she would never even get to this age.

A hand softly caressed over her bare shoulders, causing her to involuntarily shrug her shoulders and inhale sharply. She found it ironic that, even after having sex with someone, she did not like anybody touching her skin.

Irvine's hand caressed her shoulder and upper arm and she shifted uncomfortably until he stopped. Irvine had asked her about that before, and by now he knew the answer. Elizabeth Andros was a stone cold warrior, never opening up, never letting anybody inside her – figuratively speaking. Everything she did was for herself, and for no one else.

"What are ya thinkin'?"

Liz sighed and rolled over. Her coppery hair, which had been splayed out behind her on the pillow, slowly tucked under her cheek as she pulled the blanket to cover her mid chest. Not that it helped. Irvine was tracing his finger over her pale skin, and she could not understand what he saw in her skin that was so 'beautiful' as he put it.

She studied the cowboy's face for several seconds before answering. _I want to sleep, to rest. I don't want to fight anymore, I just want to give up and go far away. I'm tired of watching friends die._ Part of her wished she had recited just that, but she did not. She would never show that kind of weakness to her boss, and her friend. "I'm just tired."

Irvine nodded and shifted, climbing out of her bed. She watched him get up and smirked just a bit. _Oh yea…_One could not say that Irvine did not have a cute butt, and that was one of the things she liked the most about having sex with him. His body was very well built, courtesy of all the military training. Not that hers was not, but then again, Liz rarely checked out female bodies, even her own.

Irvine reached for his pants and Liz frowned. "Where are you going?"

He did not stop or turn around until his pants were on and zipped. After that though, he did turn and gave her a view of his chest, while he caught a glimpse of her smirk. "I gotta meet Selphie and Quisty for SeeD mission assignments and Trabia Garden transfers. I hate Squall's old job."

This produced a chuckle from Liz's lips. Squall was no longer in charge of combat assignments in Balamb Garden. In fact, until Trabia Garden was fully up and running, the Captain's job was a lot more low level than Irvine's."

Elizabeth watched the cowboy dress in silence. He turned to leave, knowing that she preferred it like that, but she surprised him. "What about Selphie?"

Irvine stopped cold thinking before putting on his cowboy hat. "I do love her."

Liz sat up, but kept the blanket around her body. Her small hand kept the blanket covering her body as she stared at him. Her coppery tresses fell like a wavy curtain all around her face, giving her a wild and animalistic look… which was exactly how she liked to be seen 'in private'. "Then why do you come here?"

Irvine watched her, and she felt his eyes wandering down and removing the blanket in his mind. Liz waved her free hand in between them. "Irvine… eyes here"

She pointed her index and middle fingers at her own eyes and Irvine's eyes snapped back up. He didn't seem at all embarrassed, and the grin on his face hinted the exact opposite. "Well…" the grin slowly faded. "Selphie doesn' wanna get married 'ntil she settles down as Trabia's Commander. And unlike you, she's decided to not perform..." he paused and looked up at the ceiling trying to recall the exact words. "'extra curricular activities'."

Irvine rolled his eyes and sighed. "If I wait for her THAT long, well… ignoring my reputation…" Irvine did a dramatic pose which he tried to appear manly, but mostly it seemed stupid to Liz. "… I'd have a real problem when I get urges she will not satisfy."

Liz rolled her eyes. This is the exact attitude about men which made her determined never to love or marry. Men just used women to get their thrills and then they cast her sex off. The only reason why she let any men have her at all was that she wanted her own thrills. It was her little method of revenge: use a MAN then cast him off.

Liz sighed and waved her hand. "Okay get going."

She knew he would not though. He walked over to her and took the hand which she waved and kissed it softly. "Have a good afternoon, Miss Andros."

Liz let him kiss the top of her hand and hold it for about three seconds before ripping it from his grasp. He looked wounded by her shunning and she shook her head. "Don't look wounded there cowboy, you got your thrills. Its not like you're some gallant knight and all."

Irvine laughed and turned walking out of the door and looking both ways. The hallway was clear. "Well then ya have a good rest, LIZ, and I'll see ya after your mission report is done."

With that he shut the door leaving her alone. Liz stayed staring at the door for a moment before slowly sliding down the wall and letting her head hit the pillow again. Now was the time for sleep, if she could summon it. Her body was tired, and the blanket against her naked skin felt invitingly good and warm. She closed her eyes and sighed softly.

Jasmine's face appeared in front of her closed eyelids and they snapped open again. With a muttered curse she rolled onto her back, and pulled the blanket to her chin to keep her warmer. She stared at the ceiling for hours thinking about the mission, and the question of whether or not she COULD have done something else for her dead partner.

When no answer was forthcoming she slowly climbed out of bed and slipped into a set of undergarments. Her hands reached behind her body to clasp the bra closed as she looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the inside of her closet door. She had no doubt she was good looking, but she didn't think she was OVERLY good looking. Her skin was too pale for her tastes. No matter how she tried to, her body would just not tan. She could BURN very nicely. An hour in the sun made her seem like she had just been torched by Ifrit. Her coppery hair was dark and contrasted her pale skin very nicely, but the waviness of her hair seemed unattractive. He knew most women had straight hair, and it always seemed like those women had all the men they wanted.

With a sigh she looked into her own eyes. They weren't a soft blue like Quistis' or emerald green like Selphie's. They were a dark brown, almost black, and did not call for any attention whatsoever. However her eyebrows DID curve seductively, and her eyes, almost black as coals, seemed like a constant enigma, which suited her personality just fine.

Her eyes darted over her figure and she knew while she did not have the cleavage to be called a 'goddess', she was doing pretty well with her lithe body. In fact, her toned muscles gave her a good contrast.

Jasmine's face appeared in the mirror, glaring at her and she shut the closet with a bang. Her fist pounded against the door hard, and her knuckles exploded in pain. Liz just ignored it for several seconds, then cast a low level cure spell on her hand.

_Troubled Master?_

Liz recognized the 'voice' of Pandemonium instantly and sighed. _Not that it's your concern, but yes I am._

Pandemonium's deep base voice chuckled then resounded strong in her mind. _You are hard on yourself. What could you have done differently?_

That gave Liz a moment of pause. _I don't know._

_Can your brooding over this produce anything productive then? _

Liz did not deign Pandemonium with an answer and instead slipped back into her tank top and hip hugging jeans. She stormed out of her room with a cloud over her head. Anybody who saw her immediately gave her a wide berth or turned around and found another path completely.

Liz stormed through the main hallway and past the fish fountains. She briefly considered going into the Training Center to relieve stress, but she had left her weapon in her room, and she wanted to hit something anyway. She walked to the elevator and punched the call button, then started pacing impatiently like a caged tiger.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the left elevator dinged and slid open, and a young cadet slowly started walking out, his eyes absorbed in his noteputer. Liz just grabbed him and shoved him out of the way, sending him sprawling. She hit the "Gym Deck" button and just stared through the closing glass doors at the young cadet. She smirked as the elevator descended and before she knew it, she was alone.

The elevator stopped one floor down, and spit her out in a very large gym with several training rooms. Liz knew that this room was where the 'garden master' Norg used to reside, but with all the free space, why put it to waste? Squall had requested a full fledged Gym for working out, and Cid had very quickly decided on this entire floor for the facility.

Elizabeth stormed into one of the training rooms and shut the door. Inside were mats, and a pair of free standing punching bags, their bases weighted to keep them from tilting over easily. Liz looked at them for just a moment before charging in, using a flurry of punches and kicks to assault them. She struck both again and again picturing random Galbadian solders, and made sure each bag got its fair share of bone crushing blows.

The door opened and she stopped, wiping her brow and turning to the person intruding her solitude. To her surprise, it was Zell. He walked in and watched her as he circled around her, watching her with a critical eye. "I heard Jasmine died."

Elizabeth frowned and turned back towards the punching bag. She wished idly that it would turn into a Galbadian soldier or – better yet – President Caraway himself. She assaulted it with enough force to nearly knock it right over. Zell kept on judging her, and Liz was not sure if he was watching her fighting techniques as Garden's hand to hand combat teacher or evaluating her mental fitness. "How did it happen?"

Liz stopped for a moment and wiped her brow of the sweat that was trickling down it. She sighed then went back to assaulting the punching bag. She assaulted it with enough force to nearly knock it right over. Zell kept on judging her, and Liz was not sure if he was watching her fighting techniques as Garden's hand to hand combat teacher or evaluating her mental fitness. "How did it happen?"

Liz stopped for a moment and wiped her brow of the sweat that was trickling down it. She sighed then went back to assaulting the punching bag. The bag sagged and bounced under the withering rain of fists deforming it, only to pop back up and take even more. "They killed her. She was holding off three soldiers while I went in and downloaded the schematics. She did well too, I got the entire thing, and when I came back, there was one left. She was having fun too… then her blade broke. Before I could shoot him, the solder ran her through with his sword. Jasmine…"

Liz choked on her next words and stopped punching the bag, instead resting her arm on it and giving a soft sob. She squeezed her eyes shut and a tear squirted out of the corner of her eye and trailed down her pale cheek. Over and over again, she heard Jasmine's scream in her mind, the gurgling choked cry of pain which was the last sound she made as the Galbadian's sword not only ran her right through, but twisted in her gut and destroyed her body. "Three seconds… if I had been three seconds faster, she would still be alive."

Zell regarded her for a moment. "Would she?"

This certainly got Liz's attention. She looked up at the martial artist with eyes flaring in a dangerous anger. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Zell circled around her, pacing slowly as her fiery eyes watched her like a wounded animal watching its hunter. "Jasmine's sword was cracking. Irvine pointed it out to me, and we both told her several times to replace her sword. Even Quistis told her to get a new sword for the mission, but she refused, saying it was a family heirloom, and that her child would also use it. If you had shot the soldier, it would not have mattered. It would have snapped with the next Galbadian soldier or the next after that. No matter what, you could not take the shot every single time. She made a choice to use a damaged weapon, and it killed her."

Elizabeth glared hard at her. Suddenly she was stalking him, circling around like a female tiger circled her prey. "It doesn't matter. I should have taken the shot. I should have been faster. _I… _"She paused for greater emphasis. "… could have saved her and brought her home, even if her sword DID crack. I should have died, not her."

Zell was fast running out of room, as Liz was backing him into a corner. "If you had died, the mission would not have been accomplished. You would have died, her sword would have snapped, then she would have died, and then your body would be with hers too."

Liz' mind flashed to an image of Jasmine's splayed open body; again with a crook Galbadian doctor performing a dissection of her body, and the image of more than one solder violating her dead but still beautiful body. It sickened her. "Have you NO respect for the dead? Are you brass so concerned with the mission that you don't realize someone is DEAD and not coming back!" she was shouting by now.

Zell's voice was still calm. "No, we know that, and we mourn her loss. She was our friend too remember. I dated her for a year remember? She was a Trabia survivor, so Selphie knew her for years, and through her, Irvine knew her. Quistis taught her, and Squall trained her sword fighting skills. How do you think HE feels? If he had trained her a bit better, she might be alive don't you think? But that isn't true, but she made a choice, and she lived with… and died by the consequences of her choice."

Liz could not take it anymore. She screamed a feral animalistic scream and charged the martial artist, fist flying.

She never had a chance.

Within 5 seconds, her face connected rather solidly with the matted floor of the exercise room, and her am was twisted in a painful but not damaging way. "You forget the first lesson of combat Liz: Don't attack in anger." Zell's voice was more tired and pained, which surprised her. "Please don't make that mistake in combat, and leave us with the guilt of not training you right."

With that Zell let go of her arm and walked out, leaving her alone to nurse her twisted arm, her bruised chin, and her highly bruised ego.


	4. Chapter 3

"Elizabeth Andros and Sally Feinstein, please report to the commander's office."

Elizabeth groaned and rolled over on her bed, finally able to get some modicum of sleep after talking with Zell. She looked at her clock to see that she had only slept four hours. _Oh well… duty calls. _She climbed out of bed and dressed herself again, then ran a hand through her messy tresses of coppery hair. Slept she had, however it was not calm or peaceful.

She moved with a catlike grace out of her room and all the way to the elevator undisturbed. Her mind was already working by the time she got there. _Sally Feinstein, annoying bitch, slut extraordinare. _Sally was the kind of girl all the men in Garden loved, at least those who violated the unsaid rule forbidding the kind of relations which she had shared with Irvine earlier. Between Squall's marriage and the cowboy's promotion however, most knew that the rule had been relaxed to a significant degree, and more and more people were starting to partake in the 'forbidden fruit'.

Sure enough, Sally marched up, wearing an overly tight t-shirt which showed of her well endowed chest. Her blonde hair came down in straight locks, and her face was powdery with makeup, while her body was well bronzed and sun kissed. Liz felt a glimmer of jealousy, peaked when she blew a kiss to a passing male SeeD. _Good Hyne, were getting to be as bad as Galbadians now. _

The elevator dinged and the two women rode up in silence. They eyed each other, Sally somehow managing to be looking down at Elizabeth despite the fact that the red-haired girl was 5 inches taller than the blonde, while the taller girl glowered at the other's 'perfect' body. Liz never felt as self-conscious as she did when around Sally. _Hyne… please don't put me on a mission with her. _

The elevator dinged and deposited the two women in front of Xu. The raven haired Asian secretary motioned to Irvine's office and the two marched in and saluted, painfully aware that they were on duty, suddenly. Inside, Irvine sat in his chair, with Squall, Quistis, Selphie, Zell, and Cid all circled around the desk, a map unrolled out on it.

Squall returned the salute then pointed at a spot on the map. Irvine nodded then looked up at them. "Ladies, we have a priority mission here. Liz, that card you brought back, we decoded it."

Squall continued the thought. "Not only was it the plans of Galbadia's next generation missiles to counter the Estharian Military, it's their target lists too. One batch of these missiles is targeted at us. Only problem is were not exactly sure where the base is."

Both girls remained silent. They knew the gravity of the situation. "We're a bit shorthanded right now, with a good majority of SeeDs on missions, and we know that pictures of the entire command staff have been handed out, so none of us can go. Liz, you are in charge of the mission. Find those missiles and take them out."

Liz nodded and Squall took out another data card. "This program will require ninety-four seconds to load on their system, and it will corrupt their firing solutions and give us access to the computer mainframe. This will keep the base inoperable for months while we plan a much more extensive mission to remove them permanently. Get in, load the program, and get out."

Sally of course had to ask the question. "Sir, if we don't know where the base is, how are we supposed to get there and accomplish the mission?"

Squall pointed to the map on Irvine's desk again. They have to hide the base pretty well; it's a very large facility. We've narrowed the location down to just a few areas, courtesy of the Rangarok's recon work."

Squall studied the two girls for a moment then handed the card to Liz and looked at Sally. "You have to take out that base, or else we're sitting ducks. You must succeed; all of Garden is counting on you. Be careful. Dismissed."

The two women saluted the Captain and spun around, never saying a word. Outside, Xu handed them a pair of forms. "We're taking you by Sea Skimmer to Dollet, as we know Galbadian Agents are watching the Balamb and Timber trains. You are going to have to hike it the rest of the way by foot. Here are the maps…" She handed them both paper maps and data cards. "...and all the information we have on the base. You depart in two hours."

Both responded with a "Yes, ma'am" and went to prepare for the mission. _Great… just great. _Not only did she have to go on a mission with Sally, but she now had to camp with her too, likely a few days of hiking each way. _I hate you Hyne._

Liz stormed out of the Command deck in a huff. She could not believe she was just assigned to partner with Sally. Without even waiting for her new 'partner' she rode the first elevator down to the main level, not bothering to hold the elevator door while Sally ran towards it, her chest bouncing like nobody's business with each exaggerated stride. She could only roll her eyes at this. _Are those implants or something?_

That thought made Liz smirk a bit as the elevator dinged and opened, depositing her on the main level of Garden. She marched off towards the dormitory section to pack, but a voice calling her name stopped her. She whirled around with fire in her eyes, but softened seeing Rinoa there. "Hey girl"

Rinoa came up and hugged Liz. "I heard about Jasmine..." Liz sighed softly and shook her head. The shorter raven haired girl continued. "How are you doing? I didn't know Jasmine very well but she seemed like a nice girl."

Liz sighed and started walking towards the dormitory. "I have asked myself a million times if I could have done something to save her."

Rinoa kept watching her friend for a moment before saying anything. When it seemed that Liz would not be more forthcoming, she pushed slightly. "...and?"

Elizabeth sighed softly and shook her head. "I could have checked her weapon. I could have helped her out instead of going to complete the mission. I could have done many things. "

Rinoa stayed quiet for a moment. "But would they have helped?"

Liz eyed her for a moment. "You sound like you've been talking to Zell."

Rinoa smiled softly, brushing her hair back behind her ear. Her light brown highlights curled back, encircling her face with a gentle halo. "He mentioned you were having problems with her death, and since you were one of my bride's maids, I felt honor bound to come down and help you. "

Liz snorted softly. "I see Captain Whatever has been rubbing off on you. 'Honor bound'" She rolled her eyes.

Rinoa snorted in laughter. "Squall doesn't very much appreciate being called that you know."

Liz smirked slightly. "Oh I know. That's why I call him that, but let's not tell him I said it this time around shall we?"

Rinoa grinned a bit. "He already knows..."

Rinoa tapped her temple softly and Liz groaned. "Oh right... that whole sorceress-knight thing."

Rinoa chuckled softly. "Have you ever thought about getting married?"

Liz burst out in laughter. "And chain myself to a man? I'd never allow my wings to be clipped like that."

Rinoa shrugged. "So you say now."

Liz stopped and glared at her friend. "Don't you start that. No man will ever tie me down. "

Rinoa grinned and flipped her hair back over her shoulders again. "We'll see. Have a safe trip. My five year anniversary is coming up in six months, and I want ALL my brides maids to be there, understood?"

Liz couldn't help a final grin before turning to head to her room. "If only one bride's maid is still alive to make it, you can guarantee it'll be me."

Rinoa and Elizabeth exchanged hugs and Rinoa whispered softly. "I'm going to hold you to that."

* * *

Liz had to admit one thing. She was amazed that they had gotten this far before Sally had annoyed her to the point where Liz felt she had to put the blond back in her place. Sally was pressed tightly against the wall of the sea skimmer thirty-five minutes out from Balamb staring down the barrel of a polished black and ivory pistol. The hilt had gold leaf inlaid with the ivory in intricate and beautiful designs. All in all it was a very beautiful gun.

Save when you were staring down the barrel.

Liz's eyes raged with fire as the shorter blond girl quaked with fear. "Hyne, Liz, what the HELL are you doing!"

That was the Sea Skimmer's gunner, James. Chances are he probably had slept with her more than a few times already. Liz did not take her eyes off Sally but answered in a growled voice. "This is none of your business. "

James scrambled up and grabbed Liz's arm, trying to pull it away from the other girl's face. He was successful, and was rewarded with an elbow to his nose before Liz brought the gun right back to her face. "Let's get one thing clear here, Sally. I am in charge. We do not powder our face while waiting for our mission to start, we do not do strip dances, and we most certainly do not start sucking face with our transport personnel, understood?"

Sally's eyes flickered around for a moment. James was nursing what was probably a broken nose, and she was very alone with a mad woman pointing a gun at her face. What should she do?

She smirked "What's the matter, Liz, jealous that you can't get any?"

Liz's face was strangely calm as she pulled the trigger in half way. Just a few millimeters more and the gun would fire. "Go ahead, you dirty little tramp, push me…" Her voice dropped to a low growl again "One... inch... further."

Whether or not Sally perceived the actual dangers that she was in or not was immaterial. Everybody knew Liz was a powder keg with a match burning right next to it. Sure, she had never actually shot a partner before, but that did not mean she would not. Something in her eyes glittering with anger told the blond that the redhead was dead serious. "I understand... ma'am"

Sally had nearly spit out the words, and most certainly let them drip with sarcasm, but Liz backed away and holstered her pistol. "Good. Now get out of my sight."

Sally nodded silently and marched out of the interior compartment, heading to the gun deck. She paused however and used a finger to tell James to follow. He had finished wiping off his bloody nose – which Liz saw was not broken, much to her disappointment – and followed her up.

Liz sighed and shook her head as she sat down. Yes, Garden was much more like a military organization now instead of a school, and yes a majority of the residents were SeeDs not students, but there were those who were bordering on insubordination. Liz realized she would probably be cashiered out of Garden if they actually came down and enforced all the rules which were in place at Garden along with Sally, but she knew at least she did her job, and she earned her bed and her job. Sally... _She probably just slept around enough to get her SeeD commission and her rank. _

A sudden thought hit her. _I've slept with Irvine. Was his recommendation for my promotion based on that? Or am I really the best person for the job? _This thought disturbed her more than a little. _Or maybe he's reassigning me so that Selphie will not find out about his affair with me. _Liz shivered once at that thought. This would bear much thinking while she traveled to the Galbadian missile base.

A series of screams, moans, and grunts started to come from the hatch leading out to the gun deck, and Liz rolled her eyes, dreading the next few days alone with Sally. _If I can get any thinking done while we travel, that is..._


	5. Chapter 4

"There are better ways of committing suicide, you know..." a voice whispered gravely, coming from a bush deep in a forest. The sun was setting into the distance behind the trees, casting an orange glow over the terrain. The golden leaves rustled slightly.

"Would you shut up?" another answered, both obviously female and both obviously irritated.

"Why? Just because I care about our lives?" the first voice hissed angrily as though offended. The second just sighed and two camouflaged bodies came out of the brush of the woods, brown and black paint on their faces and bodies, black tank tops hugging their slender torsos tightly, their hair tucked under green helmets and army-issued, baggy forest pants on. They were hardly noticeable against their surroundings, which was the point for the moment, of course. One of them had a staff and the other was clutching two black pistols in her fist.

"A mission is a mission, Sally... you and I both know that." Elizabeth sighed, crawling on her belly across the forest floor and not looking over at her partner, who was growing more annoying by the second. _WHY was I put with her? HER of all people?_

"How do we even know there's a base here…? I mean dispatching two of us to come check it out all, hundreds of miles from any backup, on account of some rumor is a little much don't you think? Especially for you... we all know how valuable YOU are to the Garden, Miss. Andros." Sally whispered sarcastically in reply. Elizabeth kept moving, crawling on her elbows to avoid being seen and licking at some of the paint that was on her lips. It tasted bad and she spit it into the grass around them.

"Look... if the base is here, this is where the missiles are. Our job is to find those missiles no matter what... and if Squall thinks it's here then... so be it." Liz explained to her gruffly, starting to pant with the effort of moving across the rough ground. Sally just sighed and kept moving, her polished fingers strumming idly on her staff. After a few moments, Liz spoke again, her voice quieter. "Judging by the coordinates that they gave me it should be around here somewh-"

"Why would they put a Galbadian Missile Base in the middle of an old chocobo forest...?" Sally's high-pitched voice got louder. "Squall has lost his mind... I mean, we've been crawling for miles and we've seen no trace of anyth- SHIT!" a gunshot rang through the air, piercing the silence and her words. A bullet barely missed Liz's hand, firing straight into the ground by her wrist. Rolling over onto her back, she aimed and fired at the source and a Galbadian fell from the tree right above them like a rotten fruit. For a moment, both of them were silent as they waited to see if there were more soldiers staked around them. In this time, Andros' dark brown eyes darted around from her position on her back and studied what seemed like every leaf in the canopy of the forest, fingers stroking the triggers of her pistols. After about thirty seconds, they both let out a sigh as though they had been holding their breath the whole time.

"There will be more on guard the closer we get; assuming no one heard the gunshots, of course..." Liz said, standing up. "Might as well walk. If they're looking for us then hiding under a bush won't save us." Sally stood up as well, quite ruffled that her cohort had been correct; there WAS a base in this forest somewhere.

Elizabeth had specifically ordered that the bright blond haired girl beside her was to stand watch and give her updates on who was going in and leaving the place and that Elizabeth be the one to search the Galbadian command center. The young woman couldn't tell if it bothered Sally that she was getting most of the action, nor did she care all that much; although she did hear soft grumblings from her partner on the boat about how she wasn't trained to be a stupid 'lookout'.

A few strands of the gunner's dark copper hair fell out from under her helmet, sticking on her dark face paint and itching bad. Liz longed to brush it aside but didn't want to smear the paint on her face. It was cold, and chill bumps prickled on her pale skin since she was only in a tank top to allow better movement should she need to run.

Both of them were dressed so alike that the only way to really tell them apart was by their weapons. On both of their belts were various assortments of knives, ammo, lock picks, flashlights, and tiny digital cameras to take photos if needed. Of course, Elizabeth thought all of this was a waste of time. Her style of invasion was simple, go in, shoot like crazy, kill a mess load of people and come out victorious. She had never been caught in her years working under Cid, and at Balamb, she was considered one of the best at infiltrating enemy bases and buildings. Andros had everything needed: the stealth for hiding, the speed to outrun, the nimble fingers to steal documents or weapons and if needed, the accurate eyes to kill enemies at over three hundred yards. It was painfully obvious she knew she was the best by her carriage. So obvious, in fact, that Sally was disgusted by her cockiness. Then again, Elizabeth was disgusted by Sally's promiscuity.

After about another hour of walking the sun went down, and it was no longer possible to see very far in front of them. Sally made sure that Liz was aware of this fact. "We could be walking right into the damn building and not know it, Andros."

"The darker it is, the easier it is to hide, right?" she snarled in reply.

"I don't hide from anything!" the voice shot back.

"Then shut up." Liz commanded quietly.

"Who made YOU commander of this mission!" Sally half yelled, startling the darkness and the woods around them. In an instant, she was grabbed by the scruff of the neck with one of Liz's rough hands and slammed against a tree, boots barely touching the ground. She had tested Elizabeth's patience to its edge and the next second she had the end of a pistol into her temple.

"My trigger finger, you annoying excuse for a SeeD..." Liz whispered, half to shut her up, half to intimidate her. Sally choked on her breath since the fingers around her neck were squeezing rather tightly, but Liz let her go and she fell into a heap onto the ground. "I don't have time for this... go back to the Garden if you want..." she hissed as Sally picked herself up off the ground and huffed angrily.

"You... you... bitch!" she sputtered. Liz stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, her face unhurt by the comment and a deceptively pleasant smile gracing her lips.

"The one and only. You going or staying?"

"Fine... deal with the Galbadians on your own! I'll laugh when we get reports that you've been beheaded or something."

"You'd better go before I behead YOU." Liz shot back and with that, the girl was lost in the darkness and out of her hair. Savoring the silence, she holstered her gun and kept walking deeper into the night. The loss of her only aide didn't seem to bother her too much. In fact, she seemed rather relieved to be by herself. Liz worked better without partners anyway... or so she thought. Jasmine was one of the few exceptions, but she was dead, wasn't she?

Liz never had been one to have many friends, her stubbornness and unwillingness to cooperate was the main reason of this. But still, she had never fought with a fellow SeeD before, especially over a mission. _Oh well... it's about time she learned her place, and it's far under me._

Hardly a half hour later, she heard voices in the distance and dropping silently to all fours, she felt a decline in the ground as she crawled towards the source. Traveling until she was near them, near enough to understand the words coming from the voices, she hid behind some bushes and saw that there was a large valley cutting straight into the cliff face and right in the middle of it was a square, metal building gleaming in the moonlight. _The Galbadian base_. A delicious chicken just waiting for her expert fingers to pluck. A smile dawned on her lips, as she remained well hidden in the darkness.

As always before starting her mission, she laid out her plan one more time and recited in her mind the orders that had come from Squall himself.

"_You have to take out that base, or else we're sitting ducks. You must succeed; all of Garden is counting on you. Be careful. Dismissed."_

Liz chuckled lightly. Careful wasn't in her vocabulary. She didn't need the word.

Following the edge of canyon surrounding the base, she found the back of the boxlike building and surveyed her surroundings. There were snipers on the roof and soldiers on the ground. Sneaking in looked impossible. _For most people, anyway._ She was confident in her camouflage that it would protect her well, plus the moon was in such a position that shadows covered the landscape between her and the target of her mission.

Her dark silhouette slipped quietly out of the forest, her pistols holstered and her finger searching her belt to withdraw a silver switchblade as her back hit the side of the building softly. Making her way to a corner, she peered around and saw a Galbadian Grunt patrolling the perimeter. When he turned his back she turned the corner and snuck up on him silently, knees bent and suddenly threw her hand over his mouth and with the switchblade, slashed his throat.

A sickening gargle came from his lips and she released him to collapse by her feet. She wiped the blood off of her blade on her pants quickly and knelt down to take off the man's dog tags, not even bothering to read the name. Why should she? Casualties were of no consequence to her. Liz put the two identical necklaces around her neck and quickly changed into the now deceased soldier's uniform. Now the Galbadians would recognize her as one of them so long as no one got close enough to see the soldier's name.

She slipped the helmet on her head, tucking her coppery hair under the helmet and frowned at the lack of visibility. Yes, it WAS helpful that she had infrared, UV, and light amplification equipment built right into her helmet, but it also cut her off from her own dark as coal eyes, the sense which she relied on the most

Dew was starting to sparkle in the silver moonlight as she hid the dead body and took his place patrolling. She marched along the perimeter of the building until finding the entrance of it, and then she calmly slipped inside, nodding a friendly greeting to the soldiers stationed to guard the automatic doors. Inside all that she saw was a long, narrow, dark hallway. The walls were all made of steel and the only lights were hanging high on the wall every dozen feet or so and glowing a menacing red. A few privates walked lazily up and down the corridor and she could see that it forked a few times farther down.

The hardest part was using her helmet's optics to scan the surroundings without actually appearing to search and look suspicious. She relaxed herself to fit in as much as possible until she could find the room she needed to continue with her mission. Elizabeth walked, talked, looked, acted, and felt like a Galbadian.

Liz realized one very small problem with her plan at this point. She passed by a Galbadian female soldier who was wearing a half jacket, camisole and the shortest shorts she had ever seen, which hid very little from the hungry eyes of the men on base. She briefly considered killing the female soldier she passed, but with other soldiers around, it would be too dangerous, she would have to play a male.

Her lips curved into a very tight smile. It was hard to decide: was she a hen in a fox's cave, or was she a fox in the hen house?


	6. Part 1 Epilogue

Galbadians were so stupid…That was the sole thing that ran through her mind as the fox prowled through the hen house. Her helmet was large on her head, since it was a men's helmet anyway, and left nothing but a pair of sinister, demonic lips to smirk at the passersby. It was after midnight… this much, she knew for sure. The whole place was deserted save for a few soldiers that paced the halls looking for intruders. Some of them even leaned against the wall, sleeping peacefully. It was all she could do not to laugh at them. In fact, she became so relaxed with her surroundings that she even let her natural-born guard fall from her façade, leisurely strolling like she truly belonged where she was.

It didn't take her long to find the room she was looking for, the command center. There were two Galbadian grunts in there that she could see, one of them was sitting with his boots up on the panel and his helmet pulled low over his face, snoring, and the other one yawning as he leaned against the wall. Liz walked into the room and the one who was awake smiled. "Hello… is that a pretty little dame come to keep us company?"

Almost automatically, his partner had started awake. Liz hadn't even considered that these soldiers hadn't had very much contact with… females… and this alarmed her slightly. However, her stoic expression (or the half that was visible) never left her face. Very slowly, she dipped down into a crouching position with her knees spread slightly and they just laughed and walked towards her, even as she slipped her hands under the Galbadian uniform. They took this as some kind of sensual gesture, and their chuckles just increased as they neared. By now, her heart was thundering. If they double-teamed her…

Her fingers searched manically out-of-sight and finally found what she was looking for, closing her fingers around cold steel. Raising her face so that it was visible to them, black eyes laughed at them as she whipped her hands out of her jacket. A switchblade flew at one of their necks, landing with deadly accuracy and he crumbled to the floor as she slashed the other one's neck with a second knife she had also drawn. He fell on top of the other and in a few seconds, neither was alive as they lay in their own little puddle of blood.

Liz gave a light laugh and peeked out into the hallway to make sure no one was watching her, and then removed the helmet completely letting her copper hair out of its confinement.

"Alright… where are you…" she whispered softly, leaning down in front of a large computer and letting her fingers move rapidly, typing in commands to the computer. The password wasn't hard to crack at all, and the person who came up with it obviously wasn't very creative. "SEEDSSUCK"

Liz slipped the data card she had been given into the proper slot and watched as the program started uploading. The numbers slowly scrolled by, but Liz felt absolutely no hint of nervousness as she worked. As far as she was concerned she had already beaten the whole base. _Thirty two percent... thirty three percent..._

She sighed and rapped her fingers on the control consol as she sat impatiently. _Hurry up… I want to go home. _She checked her watch then looked back to see the status display crawl past fifty percent. She checked her watch and for the first time, felt a very slight twinge of alarm. Ninety four seconds had come and gone, and it was only at fifty-six percent complete.

Seconds ticked by as she looked out the door again. The hallway was still clear as far as she could see, but without her helmet she could not look that far down the hallway in the dim lighting. She returned and watched as the numbers ticked past ninety. _Two and a half minutes now! What's going on! _

With a sigh of relief the numbers finally scrolled up to 100 and she slipped the data card out of the slot. She watched on the screen as suddenly everything came alive with Garden computer technicians starting to hack into the mainframe.

Suddenly a text message flashed on the screen she was looking at. "We're in, good job"

She smirked outwardly and laughed. "Mission Accomplished."

Then Liz felt something brushing against the back of her head. It was cold, it was metal, and it had a round point. It was a pistol, and a high caliber one too. Something a magic shield she erected had no chance of deflecting at short range, forget right at the back of her skull.

Then a voice authoritatively commanded her. "Don't move"

* * *

Authors notes: This story will be in either 5 or 6 parts, I will be posting one part at a time, of approximately 4-5 chapters each. On the subject of chapter 1: ive already gotten comments on the ending... please no flames. Its my story, and im going to direct it how i choose. 

This story was co-authored by one of my closest friends. I tried my hardest to make it flow, but (atleast in my mind) the stylistic differences from section to section of the story are still glaringly obvious (not as badly here, but later in the story it will be worse) Apologies for this.

Warning on the Rating: There will be blood, there will be detailed descriptions of gore and violence. There will also be sexual content, but i will NOT be turning this into a porno story. Expect more blood and gore descriptions but little change of the sexual theme descriptions from what i already have.


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